TMNT Fights and Family
by Melty94
Summary: Raph liked roaming the streets by himself, and it wasn't often he had someone with him, especially on night patrol. Oneshot. Raphael is interrupted on his nightly patrol by his nephew and ends up giving a pep talk to the fifteen year old that might even surprise himself.


He had been looking over the city of New York when the fifteen-year old had found him. For a kid nearly in high-school, Gabriel was very intuitive and fast, which both surprised and irritated Raphael. Raph liked roaming the streets by himself, and it wasn't often he took someone with him, especially on night patrol. Night patrol was usually a group thing for Raphael and his brothers, but if by chance Leonardo had decided to break patrol up in parts, Raphael would be the first one out on night duty, and he would also be the last one to return. They never usually ran into anyone, espically at night since they tended to be out so late-so it took Raph by surprise when his nephew approached him from the rooftop of a building just a few blocks down from April's shop.

Gabriel pulled himself up the fire escape, and stumbled to his feet as he approached the mutant. Lifting an arm to adjust the backpack on his shoulder, the fifteen-year old tried the best he could to quietly approach his Uncle. Staring ahead in front of him, Raphael sighed as a cool breeze teased his cheek, the lights of the city reflecting off of his face, casting shadows against the pavement. As Gabriel's sneakers squeaked against the cement behind him, Raph lifted his head in alert. Closing his eyes, he groaned. "What are you doin out so late?" he questioned, barely turning his head to the child. Gabriel narrowed his eyebrows and frowned, stopping in his footsteps and crossing his arms.

"Wondering what you're doin. I mean, you _ARE_ just creeping on top of this building." He replied. Raphael grumbled and turned around, placing one hand on the pavement and resting another on top of his knee, leaning against it. "It's not creepin'." he said solely. Gabriel threw his head back and grinned.

"Oh right, forgive me, I meant to say _stalking_."

"I'm on a rooftop. Last time I checked, that wasn't stalking."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

"Stalker."

"Mr. Know-it-all."

"Get a life."

"Ya know, you're starting to sound like your Uncle Leo."

"Maybe."

Raising an eyebrow, Raph sighed and raised his hands in defeat. "Alright. You got me." he muttered with a grin. " but shouldn't you be doin homework or something kid?" he wondered. Gabriel shrugged and dropped his backpack beside him, taking a seat beside the green creature. Kicking his legs over the edge of the building, he replied, "Nah. Finished it anyway."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Do you wanna check?"

"Pass."

Raph rolled his eyes as Gabe playfully stuck his tongue out at him in triumph. Grinning with amusement, Raphael tousled his nephew's hair roughly and laughed. Gabriel could easily get on his nerves, but he secretly adored the child. It was nice to talk to someone besides his brothers or Gabe's parents once in a while. Gabe groaned and placed his hands over his head for protection as his Uncle continued to mess with his hair. As he had gotten older, Gabe had become less of a reliant child on his family and more of an independent young teenager, making choices and discovering the world for himself. As his laughter faded away, Raph placed his arms comfortably behind his head.

"You can be a pain you know that?" He told his nephew. Gabe grinned mischievously as he began to swing his legs back and forth.

"Meh, I try." he shrugged, an amused smile spreading across his face. Raphael smiled with contentment. As much as he enjoyed being on his own, he liked talking to his nephew. He listened quietly as Gabriel went on and talked about school, his life, his friends, the reasons why he loved certain things, why he didn't with others. Raph laughed at some comments, still others he didn't. This had gone on for about fifteen minutes before Gabe stretched and spoke, breaking the earlier conversation.

"Hey Uncle Raph?"

"What's up kiddo?"

"I uh, can I tell you something?" Gabe shifted uneasily and cleared his throat.

Raphael threw his head back and laughed. "What'd ya do?" he asked. As he turned his head towards Gabriel, he stopped short. Looking at the red-headl, he noticed that the teenager had suddenly become awkward and silent, twiddling with his fingers uneasily. Raph tilted his head. That was odd. Gabe never acted nervous unless he did something bad. Which, bad, in his case, usually meant he stayed out late to be with his Uncles, or practically destroying April's shop messing with Donatello's untested inventions alongside Michaelangelo.

"Look, if you broke Mikey's hover-board, Don can make him another one Junior."

"N-no. That's not quite it." Came the nervous reply.

"Well? Spit it out. I'm sure It can't be that bad."

"You'd be surprised."

Raph widened his eyes at Gabriel's sudden comment. Now this kid had his attention. Shifting his weight to his left, he faced Gabriel, indicating that Gabriel had his complete focus. Gabriel sat up straight and took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. Fidgeting uneasily where he sat, he began. "Okay okay. So you know Tyler? Tyler Wright?"

"That jerk face you kicked the shell out of a couple weeks ago?" Raph asked with a laugh. Swallowing hard, Gabriel nodded. Tracing circles with his finger against the pavement, he took a deep shaky breath.

"He's been picking on me for as long as I can remember. Today at lunch he was getting on my nerves, calling me things like 'dweeb' and 'space freak'. That's not what bothers me, but after that he told me my dad was a good-for-nothing nobody and I'd be lucky if I'd be any better." Gabriel's voice cracked and he shook as he told his story. Raphael frowned as he listened to Gabe's words. For as long as he could remember, Gabe got picked on. Although Raph never really could understand why, he hated when punks went out picking on his nephew. They'd been doing it for years, and while Raph insisted that they do something about it, Gabe would plead for his family not too. He was literally too sweet for his own nature. April had almost made a call to the school principal once, but Splinter had advised against it, claiming that if Gabriel did not approve of the idea in the first place, calling the school would only make matters worse for him. And so they did nothing.

"Tyler started to point out to people why they never see you guys, and he said that I just made you guys up-my uncles, to settle for the father that I never really had." Gabe shook his head and wiped his eyes with his free hand, trying to steady himself. "It's really stupid, I know. But I got so agitated that I got up, and well.." He hesitated, closing his eyes and cringing, preparing for the worst. "I-I.. punched him." Gabriel finished, half opening one eye and closing the other, he braced himself for a reaction. Raph's eyes widened before looking down at the kid next to him. _Gabriel? Punching a kid? Again? Woah, he must have been really ticked._Recoiling in surprise, Raphael leaned forward and stared at Gabe intently.

"You punched him?" He repeated. Pursuing his lips, he gazed back at Gabe concern. Gabe stared ahead of him, twisting his fingers even more anxiously and knocking his feet against each other, clearly trying to avoid looking his Uncle in the eye. Raphael bit his bottom lip nervously and looked around, trying to think of a response. Granted, he wasn't the most amazing person with kids, but then again, Gabriel was never _this_ open about his school life-at least with Raph. In fact, Gabe was rarely a complainer. He was more of the suck-it-up type, Raph recalled.

"So..so what happened after that?" Raph asked. "I'm sure you didn't just walk away." He tried not to snicker. Picking both his knees up and bringing them close to his chest, Gabe shook his head and continued.

"Then the principal came in and I got detention. I am so done for." He uttered quietly, hugging his knees and resting his head in between them. The fifteen-year-old sighed once more and looked downward, he seemed so _saddened _by the course of his actions that it almost took Raph aback.

"Did you tell Apri-I mean, your Mom?" Raphael questioned.

Gabriel shook his head in fear, his irises growing small. "Are you kidding? she'd_ kill _me!" he cried, raising his hands in the air. "and besides," he added, "this is the second time it's happened." he said, raising two fingers to his Uncle's face. "you don't get it, I _promised_ Mom I wouldn't do it again. But she can't expect me to let it go like nothing's happened! What Tyler _says_, what he _does_, it makes me so _**angry**_." Gabriel clutched his fists in a rage, his eyebrows furrowing in anger. At the sound of those last few words Gabriel released from his lips, Raph couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Shaking his head, he stood up and crossed his arms.

"Boy, oh boy, I can't tell you how many times I've felt that way about somethin." he admitted with a smile. Gabriel looked up at him from his seat and wrinkled his nose in confusion. Pushing himself up beside his uncle, he complained.

"Look, I don't want a lecture, so _PLEASE_ don't give me a spheel about what I did was wrong and crud." he argued. "I-I just need to talk to somebody about this. Somebody who isn't my mom." Groaning, he lifted his hands up in the air and let them come to a rest on his head. "who am I even kidding." He admitted. "the principal's gonna call her tomorrow morning anyway. It's not like she won't figure it out." Walking in circles on the rooftop, Gabriel kicked the pavement in frustration. Gritting his teeth, he growled. "I wish I could just sock it to Ty without getting in some sort of trouble anyway. He doesn't deserve to be here." He said through gritted teeth.

Raphael frowned. Playing with his Sai that laid against his shell, he approached the young teenager and grasped his shoulders firmly. Turning him around, Raph looked at Gabriel in the eyes. "Gabe, you better stop and think for a moment." He demanded. "don't go actin like a hothead." Whistling aloud, the grown turtle shook his head with amusement. "Gosh, listen to me, hothead." he muttered. "I think Leo's really been rubbing off on me."

Gabriel did not seem amused. Narrowing his eyebrows, he crossed his arms and faced the other way, eyeing the skyscrapers in the night sky. The ninja glanced down at person below him and stood in front of his view, a grin spreading across his face. "Listen to me Junior," he began. Gabriel did not seem in the mood to listen, staring completely ahead of him, he tried to ignore the turtle.

Raph rubbed the back of his head. "look, I'm not gonna lecture you on why punching another kid is wrong, because I totally would have done the same," He snickered. But raising a finger and shaking it, he added, "but that doesn't mean you should go beating him up anyway." he finished. "Take it from a turtle who gets it. I get you." He told his nephew. Shaking Gabe's shoulder firmly, he turned Gabe's chin towards him.

"This guy's a jerk. Not worth your time. If he wants to waste his life insulting ya, let him do it." As he spoke, Raphael couldn't even believe the own words that were coming out of his mouth. Even as a teenager, Raphael was never one to give good advice or be the encouraging turtle of their family. Even while he remained protective of them, he strayed away from being the person to give confident lectures or talks, being that it made him sound responsible and grown up, something that Raph declared made him feel awkward, in the sense it was Leonardo's job to hold that role.

Raph swallowed, waiting for a response from the red-head. When all Gabriel did was sigh and look away in impediment, Raphael softened his voice much more than before. "look, I'm not a good pep talker," he concluded, a laugh beginning to sprout up. "I'm no Uncle Don or Leo...frankly I don't think Mikey pep talks but don't go beating yourself up for something that Tyler said. Besides, he's a woosie for insulting you like that. Tyler doesn't know what he's talking about. He's got some nerve goin out insulting your family. For all we know, Tyler may not have a family to compare to ours." Raphael said while spreading out his arms.

"_**We're**_ your family Gabriel. Me, your Mom, Splinter, Don, Leo, ...and..even Mikey." Gabriel could help but smirk a little as Raph mentioned Mikey. Raph smiled and took out his sai, twiddling it between his forefinger and thumb. "nobody messes with us. We're always gonna be here for ya."

Gabriel loosened up and his frown instantly dissipated. Eyeing his uncle, he hastily made a few steps over to him and before Raphael knew what was happening-Gabriel engulfed him in a hug. Raphael hesitated, as Gabriel wrapped his arms around him and buried his face into Raphael's plastron. Stumbling at once over the teenager's weight, Raph hesitated once again as he found his arms slowly wrapping around the kid, patting him on the back. He wasn't one to display affection often, but that was mainly because he never really knew _how_ too. But with Gabriel now plastered against his chest, Raph could feel his heart softening as the teenager clutched him. It was then he realized how much Gabriel relied on him, even as a teenager, to give him that assurance, that encouragement, that _support_. After about a minute or so, Raphael cleared his throat and pulled the kid back, looking him in the eye.

"Well uh, yeah." was all he could utter. Gabriel grinned at this, a smile spreading across his lips. Placing an arm around Gabriel's shoulder, Raph gave him a nudge. "Now, enough with the sentimental talk. It's annoying me how much I'm beginning to sound like Leo." he muttered with a roll of the eyes. Placing his SAI back in its rightful slot, he stretched out his arms as Gabriel rubbed his own face in exhaustion..

"Yeah well, it wasn't bad for a tough guy. Now I have something to use against you." Gabriel pointed out. Raph recoiled and shoved the kid playfully. "Dream on ginger head." He said sarcastically. "you're not gonna hear that from me again." he replied. "nope. Not in a million years kiddo." Gabriel let out a laugh as Raph pointed to him. "So you better remember that."

"I...thanks Uncle Raph." Gabriel smiled weakly. Raphael grinned as he gave his nephew an affectionate noogie. "Anytime kid." Laughing aloud, Gabriel pushed himself from his Uncle's grasp and yawned, stretching as he reached for the night sky. Rubbing his eyes, he moaned. "Gosh, what time is it anyway?" he asked, looking at the infinite void of stars above them. Raph reached for his shell cell in his pocket and clicked the button on the front. The screen light up his face as he replied,

"Eleven-thirty." he answered Gabe. "and here I was supposed to be on night patrol." he shrugged as Gabe shrunk and made a panicked face. Raph raised a hand. "Woah, it's not a big deal, the guys won't know. Is your mom up?" he questioned. Gabe bit his lip. "Probably," he said in response. "she never goes to bed until I get home. Unless she falls asleep on the couch watching 'Life's a Drama' or something." Raph grinned and adjusted the belt on his waist. Punching Gabe in the shoulder, he motioned towards the fire escape.

"Come on, I'll walk you home." he said. Gabriel picked up his backpack from the cement and followed his Uncle as they headed into the darkness, turtle to boy.

"So, you're not really gonna use my talk against me are you?" Raph asked as their voices faded away into the distance.


End file.
